of a girl with goats, #694, 8.75" x 7.5", early mark... 1775, The Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory was founded by Frantz Heinrich Müller, a pharmacist experimenting with porcelain. He was looking for investors to start a Danish porcelain manufactory, but very little interest was shown at first. But then Dowager Queen Juliane Marie and her son, Prince Frederik, heir presumptive, appeared. They became partners together with King Christian VII, the son of Juliane Marie’s late husband, King Frederik V.These royals had only just been through what is described as the greatest royal scandal — by some as the greatest love story — in Danish history. King Christian VII, who was considered to be mentally unstable, had brought home with him from Germany a new doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee, as the doctor seemed to calm him. But as it turned out, Doctor Struensee and Christian’s wife, Queen Caroline Mathilde, fell in love and had an affair for years before getting caught, leading to Struensee being beheaded and to Queen Caroline Mathilde being sent into exile.Three years later, Juliane Marie was taking advantage of her stepson’s mental weakness, ruling the country from the shadows and, as it turned out, going on porcelain adventures.Following the wishes of Juliane Marie, the trademark of the company became three royal blue waves, symbolising the three main inner waters of Denmark. This is still the trademark we know today. The Blue Fluted porcelain was the first to be painted at the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory, and though this pattern was quite common all over Europe at the time, it’s commonly known as a typical Danish pattern today.The Dowager Queen was not to be very skilled at handling finances. History books indicate that her perception of running the country’s economy was to leave the note press running, and therefore her stepson, King Christian VII, had to take over all the finances of the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory to keep it going. In 1790, Prince Frederik on behalf of King Christian ordered a new set of porcelain as a gift for Catherine II of Russia, known as Catherine the Great. The set called Flora Danica was all handmade and hand-painted with golden edges and Danish floral motifs. Unfortunately, Catherine died before the set was finished in 1802.Instead, the set was kept in the possession of the Danish royal family, and in fact, the set is considered to be ground-breaking in design and craftsmanship for that era. The first time it was used was in 1803 for King Christian VII’s birthday. The set intended for Catherine the Great contained 1,802 pieces of porcelain. Today, 1,530 are left and kept at Christiansborg Castle in central Copenhagen. These days, the castle houses the Danish Parliament, but in the 18th century, it was the home of King Christian VII and his family.The Flora Danica set still belongs to the royal family, but it’s very rarely used. The last time the royal family used it was in 1990 for Queen Ingrid’s 80th birthday. After having been kept out of public sight for several hundred years, around 200 pieces of this original Flora Danica set have now been displayed in the so-called Flora Danica Cabinet at Christiansborg Castle for everyone to enjoy.By the time the Flora Danica set was finished, the Dowager Queen Juliane Marie had also died. But the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory continued to be run by the royal family up until 1868, when it was sold into private ownership.At the 1889 World Expo in Paris, the one where the Eiffel Tower was exhibited, the new artistic director of the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory won the Grand Prize for his newly developed technique, where he hand-painted the patterns onto the porcelain under the glaze instead of on top of it. The prize gave way to the establishment of factories in the great cities of the world such as Paris, London and New York. His technique is still used today both by Royal Copenhagen and other porcelain manufacturers around the world. VIEW GALLERYIn 1911, the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory’s shop moved into its present location in one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings from 1616 at Amagertorv. The shop offers several floors of porcelain heaven with lots of items both for sale and for exhibition.The Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory, today Royal Copenhagen, made sure to move with the times and in 2000, one of the most ground-breaking things happened to the company since the beginning more than 200 years earlier. After having experimented with a lot of new designers and new porcelain items throughout the 20th century, designer Karen Kjældgård Larsen did the exact opposite.She took the original pattern from the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory’s production, Blue Fluted, and turned it into Blue Fluted Mega, a huge success — parts of the original Blue Fluted pattern blown up mega size. The success was followed up in 2008 by designer Louise Campbell, who again took parts of the original Blue Fluted pattern and gave them new, bright colours.The royal company has also kept its craftsmanship through all 239 years. All parts are still being painted by hand, and today it’s even possible for everyone to come and learn the technique and paint their own cup or dinner plate by attending one of the company’s painting courses. Despite the fact that the Royal Danish Porcelain Manufactory, now Royal Copenhagen, was actually separated from the royal family back in 1868, it has kept its royal ties ever since. In 2004, when Crown Prince Frederik married Mary Donaldson, the wedding gift from the people of Denmark was a specially made Flora Danica set containing the couple’s monogram. Besides that, Royal Copenhagen is certified as Purveyors to the Royal Danish Court.Today, it’s still possible to get a sniff of the original royal history of one of the world’s oldest companies. One of the rooms in the shop on Amagertorv in Copenhagen to this day displays a portrait of the Dowager Queen Juliane Marie in remembrance of the company’s royal roots. In Christian VIII’s mansion at Amalienborg Castle, the niches are decorated with displays of the Juliane Marie set, a dinnerware set named after the Dowager Queen who started it all.

good condition